Movies About Childbirth, Doulas, The Affect of Babies on Marriage
September 4, 2014 7:43 AM   Subscribe

Hey There Brilliant People! Could you please send me any film, tv or play suggestions that are about women going through pregnancy, the affect that has on their marriage, and women who work with doulas and midwives while pregnant? Thanks so much!
posted by sunnyblues48 to Media & Arts (10 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
What to expect when you're expecting actually does an excellent job of looking at all the routes one can take to becoming a parent and the effect it has on different types of relationships. It addresses how pregnancy affects identity and relationships in a surprisingly real way. It is however a light comedy, so not a super deep look at these things.

Pregnant Butch is an autobiographical graphic novel about a self-identified butch lesbian dealing with being pregnant in NYC in 2003. It deals with midwives, and her relationship with her life partner, on her self-perception and was brutally honest and very interesting.
posted by edbles at 7:58 AM on September 4, 2014


There is The Business of Being Born documentary that involves midwives and doulas.
posted by jillithd at 8:05 AM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Check out the British Channel 4 documentary, One Born Every Minute
posted by Ziggy500 at 8:09 AM on September 4, 2014


Call the Midwife does this very well, even though it takes place in the 50s, much of what the women go through women still go through (though not everything.)
posted by zizzle at 8:14 AM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Not very good and no doulas/midwives, but Nine Months
posted by Mchelly at 9:10 AM on September 4, 2014


Related: Cara Muhlhahn, a midwife featured in The Business of Being Born, delivered my first son at home, and my wife and I had a very positive experience before, during and after the birth. I recommended her to friends, who had a far more difficult and therefore stressful experience. They're quoted at length in the New York Magazine article Extreme Birth.
posted by bassomatic at 11:15 AM on September 4, 2014


There's also a Business of Being Born 2 (or "More Business of Being Born") which is just as amazing as the first one. Though I don't know if you're just looking for fictional portrayals?
posted by Blitz at 11:50 AM on September 4, 2014


With regards to the effects it has on marriage, there is Kate Figes' Life After Birth (book, but still relevant).
posted by jillithd at 11:56 AM on September 4, 2014


Do not miss Birth Story

"Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune, rescued modern midwifery from extinction, and changed the way a generation thought about childbirth. Today, as nearly 1/3 of all US babies are born via C-section, they labor on, fighting to preserve their knowledge and pushing, once again, for the rebirth of birth."
posted by silsurf at 4:20 PM on September 4, 2014


Not so much about the effects on marriage, as the author was unmarried and out of a relationship with the baby's father, but a wonderful, insightful, painfully (and hilariously) realistic portrayal of new motherhood is Operating Instructions by Anne LaMott.
posted by primate moon at 8:03 PM on September 4, 2014


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